Gaza burns as Israel intensifies attack...

Smoke from the three-day Israeli air strike over Gaza

At least a dozen Palestinian civilians have been killed on Monday as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the Gaza Strip, medical sources say.

The latest total death count in Gaza stands at 531 people killed and more than 2,000 injured across 10 days, with more than 80 deaths since the ground offensive began two days ago. Overnight and Monday morning air raids were reported in open fields in east Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and in the Shati refugee camp. Among the dead was a family of seven at Shati refugee camp, who were killed by navy shelling off the coast of Gaza.

As Israeli troops advanced in their ground invasion supported by military helicopters that sporadically dropped bombs and caused mass panic as frantic families fled by car or on foot.

Artillery shells explode over Gaza as Israeli forces invade Gaza. Troops, backed by air and naval support, are reported to have surrounded Gaza City. And with soldiers positioned on the north-south road at Netzarim, the besieged territory has been split into two, effectively blocking Palestinian supply lines.



The Israeli government officials claim they are not targeting civilians, only seeking to halt rocket fire from the Palestinian Hamas movement governing Gaza. But pictures on the ground tell a different story. It is all in the name of self-defence, claim the Israelis.

But in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians rallied for a third day of protests, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a man, Palestinian medical sources said.

Mufid Saleh Walweel, 22, was shot in the head in the West Bank city of Qalqilya during a protest against Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip.

As always, children are the victims... (AFP photo).


Streets remained deserted in Gaza City, capital of the battered and densely populated Palestinian territory, as it was encircled by Israeli forces cutting off the main access roads.

Stores were shuttered and long queues formed outside the few open bakeries, with those residents who decided to stay stocking up on goods for fear of a protracted conflict.

The first night of Israel's ground invasion, Gaza was blasted with explosives from both air and sea .

Artillery shells rained down along the border, tanks firing in support of advancing infantry units in the northern Gaza Strip, and Hamas retaliated with mortar rounds and by setting off roadside bombs.

Aid agencies have condemned Israeli Foreign Minister Livni who claimed there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza where 1.5 million people, are already suffering shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies due to a two-year economic blockade imposed by Israel.

Egypt has also completely closed the Rafah crossing, cutting off aid supplies to the territory.

About 250,000 people in the northern part of Gaza are also reported to be without electricity. The main power plant has been shut down for lack of fuel due to Israel's blockade.

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I'm outraged and angry as I watch helplessly at the TV in front of me showing the carnage going on in Gaza. At the last count, Israeli's bomb had killed 530 Palestinians and injured 2,450 injured since its assault on Gaza last Saturday.

The death toll and the number of those injured are most likely to rise. Hospitals in Gaza are running with no electricity. There is shortage of medical supplies and the injured are being treated on the floor because there are not enough beds and space. And many are dying while waiting to be treated...the majority of them civilians.

Despite the Israelis assurance that civilians are not their target, 20 per cent of those killed were children and women.

Israeli's well-oiled PR machinery has been working overtime. It is a fight to defend itself and it is Israel's war against "Terror" and the terrorists (Hamas) ... always claiming that it is the victim, not the aggressor.

What about the Palestinians right? Their right to defend itself ? You cut off a group of people from the outside world by militarily occupying their land and force them into a state of destitution and then are surprised when they reacted the way they did?

The majority of the families of the people now living in Gaza, one of the most densely populated strip of land on this face of the earth - were from what is now called Israel. They were driven to Gaza to pave the way for the establishment of a Jewish State/homeland , Israel in 1948, for Jews dispersed all over the world. But the Jews claim, the land is theirs by right given by God because they are the Chosen people.

Much has been made of Hamas firing rockets at Israel, but who has been counting how many missiles Israel has fired at Gaza over the past six years? The fact that 3,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks against 30 Israeli deaths suggest that there are many more then 6,000 Israeli missile attacks.

The Israeli reaction now is based purely on posturing for their own elections combined with the certainty that Bush will let them do whatever they want.

During the so-called truce, Israel put up blockades to stop almost all essential goods - food and medicine - from getting into Gaza which angered Hamas who then started firing rockets. The shelling did not kill a single Israeli. Now Israel has decided to bomb any building in Gaza it deems as a 'Hamas institution' - which include mosques, institutions of higher learning, hospitals and refugee camps - to clear that strip of land of "terrorists".

And the US says Hamas is reponsible for the deaths of the Palestinians.

While the killing continues, Israel has closed the Gaza borders to the outside world.

Israel will continue with the carnage as long as there is no word from the White house...to say enough is enough.

Am not surprised. Are you?

For more of the atrocities read here
Read Nuraina's : I weep for you: sons and daughters of Paletine